The Charlie Waller Trust
Finance and Operations Manager
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Location:
The role is based at the Trust’s office in West Berkshire with a minimum of three days per week expected to be worked at our Newbury office for full-time staff. Flexible working arrangements are available provided they meet the objectives of the charity and requirements of the role.
Accountable to:
Head of Finance and Operations
Start date:
As soon as possible
Hours of work:
Full-time, 1.0 FTE, Monday-Friday, permanent.
Salary range:
£37,287 to £41,967 FTE. The starting salary will depend on experience, although, as a charity, we typically offer at the start of the salary band.
Purpose
This is an exciting vital and varied role for an organised and collaborative finance and operations professional who wants to help a charity supporting young people’s mental health to run safely, efficiently and effectively. Working closely with the Head of Finance and Operations, you will combine hands-on delivery with day-to-day oversight of finance, operations, technology, systems and compliance processes.
Key responsibilities and duties
As Finance and Operations Manager, your role is to manage and strengthen the charity’s day-to-day finance, operations, technology and governance processes, ensuring that systems, records, controls and compliance requirements are well coordinated and consistently maintained. Your primary goal is to provide practical management support across the organisation, so colleagues have the tools, information and processes they need to deliver the charity’s mental health mission effectively.
Finance
- Manage and oversee the day-to-day financial processing, ensuring it is accurate, timely and compliant with charity finance procedures, including purchase and sales ledger processing, recording donations, reconciliations, expense claims, Gift Aid preparation, petty cash and income logs.
- Prepare monthly and quarterly management information, including management accounts, variance analysis, commentary, cash flow summaries and projections for review by the Head of Finance and Operations.
- Maintain reconciliations, fund accounting, journals, accruals, prepayments and other financial records.
- Coordinate budgeting, forecasting, budget monitoring and project and funder reporting.
- Lead year-end and audit preparation, maintain financial controls and procedures, and advise colleagues across the organisation on finance matters.
Operations, systems and people management
- Line-manage the Finance Assistant and IT and Operations Officer, setting objectives, allocating workloads and ensuring accurate, timely work that meets organisational standards and priorities.
- Support performance and professional development through regular one-to-ones, constructive feedback, coaching and a collaborative team culture.
- Provide operational oversight of the charity’s IT, digital systems and data management, ensuring systems are reliable, secure and aligned with organisational needs.
- Oversee IT and digital systems, external support providers, system access, licensing, devices and service improvements across key systems including Microsoft 365, SharePoint/OneDrive, Teams, CRM platforms and other core digital tools.
- Maintain cyber security, data quality, retention and data protection practices, escalating risks or gaps.
- Support data governance through secure storage, data quality, retention practices and compliance with data protection requirements.
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Other
- Support governance, statutory reporting including Charity Commission and Companies House filings, regulatory filings, policy management and compliance records.
- Support compliance processes across health and safety, data protection, cyber security and internal procedures, ensuring actions are completed and issues escalated appropriately.
- Identify and escalate financial, operational, governance and compliance risks.
- Maintain up-to-date procedures, controls and workflow documentation, recommending improvements that enhance accuracy, efficiency and compliance.
- Identify opportunities to improve systems, automate processes or make better use of digital tools, advising the Head of Finance and Operations as needed.
- Ensure compliance at all times with data protection regulations, safeguarding requirements, confidentiality obligations and relevant organisational policies and procedures.
- Undertake other duties that may reasonably be required by the Trust and are appropriate to the grade and responsibilities of the post
Person Specification – Finance and Operations Manager
The successful candidate is likely to meet the essential criteria below and may also bring some of the desirable experience listed. If you are excited by the role and believe your skills are a strong match, we encourage you to apply.
Essential:
- Strong experience in finance administration, including budgeting, reconciliations, financial processes, financial reporting support and working within established financial controls.
- Excellent understanding of Microsoft 365, including SharePoint, Teams and Excel, with the ability to use technical knowledge to oversee system use and support colleagues.
- Familiarity with CRM systems, data quality, and digital tools (including Dynamics, PowerApps, or similar).
- Experience supporting and improving governance and compliance processes, including policy management, data protection practices, risk updates and statutory reporting preparation.
- Experience line managing staff or volunteers, including supporting work quality and professional development.
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Desirable
- Experience of charity governance including Charity Commission expectations and Companies House filing processes.
- Experience contributing to management accounts, budget monitoring and year‑end audit preparation.
- Experience of online business banking processes.
- Understanding of cyber security basics (MFA, device compliance, secure storage).
- Knowledge of Microsoft Business Central.
Attainment - Essential
- A finance qualification at AAT Level 4, or equivalent relevant experience.
Personal attributes
Essential:
- A commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and to achieving the charity’s objectives.
- Ability to work efficiently, accurately and at speed as necessary, prioritising tasks and working to deadlines.
- Ability to work independently, take initiative within agreed boundaries and use sound judgement in day‑to‑day decision‑making including escalating issues appropriately.
- Confident communicator who builds positive working relationships with staff, suppliers and external partners.
Desirable
- Interest in and awareness of mental health issues.
To apply
If you would like an informal discussion about the role with Faramade Rees, our Head of Finance and Operations, this can be arranged via recruitment@charliewaller.org
The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Monday 2 November 2026.
Please submit via your chosen job website or send your CV and a supporting statement to recruitment@charliewaller.org. We ask that you structure your supporting statement by providing relevant information under person specification bullet points (combining these if multiple points are effectively responded to by one experience). Please try to keep your supporting statement to a maximum of 800 words, excluding headers. Applications will not be considered without a supporting statement.
You will hear back from us by Wednesday 4 November, if not before. If you are shortlisted, your interview will take place in person in Newbury on Monday 9 November and will involve a competency interview along with a short, 20-minute finance task relevant to the role.
We will provide details about the task 24 hours in advance to allow candidates time to prepare, and we will also provide 50% of the interview questions in advance so that all candidates can perform at their best.
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